The overreaching of the US government's domestic and international spy programs continues to be theorised in the latest revelations from Kim Dotcom's extradition trial, with the Megaupload founder and expert witnesses suggesting that the FBI may have used a fake mobile phone tower to record his phone calls, as late as August this year, despite it being over a year and a half since his initial arrest.
This is completely unproven at the moment and based on Dotcom's own experiences and a suggestion by the New Zealand police's former head of its crime lab, John Thackray, but both are convinced that the US has been tapping Mr Dotcom's phone. He says that back in August he was on a phone conference with his lawyer, when he heard his voice played back to him, which he believes was the result of faulty surveillance equipment, most likely being used by the authorities of New Zealand and/or the US.
If you look closely, you can see a NSA diver with a shark fin on
Mr Thackray said that in circumstances like the ones described by Dotcom, he may well have been under surveillance.
The response from the US (via the New Zealand Herald) has been that its assurances to counter these claims should be enough to put people's minds at ease.
KitGuru Says: This really wouldn't surprise me at this point. PRISM has been shown to be a hugely ambitious and invasive scheme, why wouldn't it continue to be used to keep track of someone like Dotcom, that has proved to be a real thorn in the side of the authorities?
They must have thought Kim was housing a planet buster…